Wireless or mobile telecommunications networks are generally known in the art. A MS (e.g., a mobile telephone or other mobile or wireless end user device) obtains service and/or access to the wireless network via an over-the-air radio frequency (RF) interface with a base station (BS). Each BS provides the over-the-air interface for and/or serves a particular geographic coverage area known as a cell. Typically, a plurality of base stations are operatively connected to and/or served by a mobile switching center (MSC) that is responsible for routing traffic for a particular MS to the appropriate BS currently serving that MS (i.e., to the cell in which the MS is currently located).
Typically, within a wireless telecommunications network, the over-the-air interfaces used to communicate between the MS and BS may includes multiple band-classes. For example, two frequently used band-classes include the so called cellular band-class operating at or around 850 MHz and the so called personal communications service (PCS) or digital cellular band-class operating at or around 1900 MHz. Commonly, a MS is equipped to selectively employ either band-class when communicating with a BS depending on various circumstances, e.g., such as the availability of either band-class in a particular geographic location where the MS is currently located.
The “mobility” in mobile communications is commonly achieved in part via two communication channels with the MS, namely, a paging channel and an access channel. The paging channel is used to verify and/or establish the location of the MS within the network and to deliver incoming calls to the MS. The access channel is used by the MS for registration purposes, i.e., to report power-up of the MS, to report changes in the location of the MS, etc.
Typically, a mobile service provider seeks to maximize the number of busy hour call attempts (BHCA) in order to serve an increasing number of mobile subscribers. One obstacle to achieving this goal, however, is the availability of sufficient paging channel bandwidth. While there are known ways to increase paging capacity, they often involve considerable expense and/or lead time, e.g., adding new bandwidth. Accordingly, it is desirable to optimize the usage of existing paging channel bandwidth.
Historically, when an incoming call arrived at a MSC for a MS, all the band-classes employed would be paged in order to contact the MS and deliver the call. That is to say, the MSC would signal the base stations it served to transmit a paging signal in all the band-classes to verify or establish the location of the MS within one of the cells. This approach, however, used a considerable amount of paging channel bandwidth insomuch as, traditionally, all the cells within the geographic region served by the MSC and all the band-classes where paged for any given instance.
In recent developments, it has been proposed to conserve paging channel bandwidth by suitably limiting or defining the geographic regions or cells that are paged in any given instance using one or more of a combination of techniques. See, for example, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/090,500, filed Mar. 25, 2005 and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/065,504, filed Mar. 24, 2005, both incorporated by reference herein in their entirety. However, there still remains the desire to further reduce the paging channel load in order to support more mobiles and/or more services.
Moreover, even with effective conservation efforts, the paging channel may still be susceptible to becoming overloaded. Reducing the paging channel load does not address certain issues that can still arise if and/or when such an overload condition is reached or approached. Customarily, when a system is in paging overload, paging messages are dropped indiscriminately. For example, if there is no available paging channel bandwidth when an MSC receives a paging message or is otherwise processing a request or attempt to page a MS, then that paging message or request or attempt is simply dropped or ignored such that no page is made. Accordingly, the corresponding call will not be completed to the MS. Such an indiscriminate procedure will typically not result in the most efficient or desirable use of valuable paging channel bandwidth.
Accordingly, a new and improved paging system and/or method for a wireless telecommunications network is disclosed that overcomes the above-referenced problems and others.